WEBVTT 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:14.240 Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.519 an international church in Bangkok, Thailand, 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:19.739 with dozens of nationalities worshiping together. 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:22.920 We invite you to connect with us from wherever 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:27.140 you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our 00:00:27.140 --> 00:00:31.000 mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:36.420 by this week's sermon. There are so many types 00:00:36.420 --> 00:00:40.189 and kinds of peace, you know. there's this greeting 00:00:40.189 --> 00:00:42.590 in traditional shalom and peace, and all these 00:00:42.590 --> 00:00:45.750 from the scriptures that you can find. I am a 00:00:45.750 --> 00:00:50.009 firm believer of the saying, and you're familiar 00:00:50.009 --> 00:00:55.829 with this, happy wife, happy life, everlasting 00:00:55.829 --> 00:00:59.990 peace. Have you heard of that? I practice that. 00:01:01.090 --> 00:01:05.670 And there's an extension to that, awesome food 00:01:05.670 --> 00:01:09.200 for supper. Well, you didn't get that anyway. 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:16.819 There is this famous greeting or understanding 00:01:16.819 --> 00:01:20.280 of the kind of peace in Scripture. And this is 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.780 the series that we are following here at ECB, 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:28.500 the Advent series of peace on earth. Now, this 00:01:28.500 --> 00:01:34.099 concept, this idea was taken from the Gospel 00:01:34.099 --> 00:01:38.579 of Luke. From the Gospel of Luke, and this was 00:01:38.579 --> 00:01:43.019 the message of the angel to the shepherds, peace 00:01:43.019 --> 00:01:47.180 on earth. And eventually that became famous and 00:01:47.180 --> 00:01:51.079 it was handed and passed on to us by tradition. 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:58.659 Our study then, because this was the topic that 00:01:58.659 --> 00:02:01.140 was asked of me to discuss and share with you 00:02:01.140 --> 00:02:04.680 about the peace of God. It will come from Luke 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:08.560 chapter 2. Verses 1 to 20. So just bear with 00:02:08.560 --> 00:02:11.439 me as I share with you this concept of peace. 00:02:12.719 --> 00:02:19.099 Specifically from Luke chapter 2. Now this is 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:24.539 a picture that I took when Jesus was born. Somewhere 00:02:24.539 --> 00:02:30.490 in... Well, anyway, this is just a greeting card, 00:02:30.569 --> 00:02:33.409 okay? You're very familiar with this. But there 00:02:33.409 --> 00:02:35.389 are certain things I'd like for you to notice. 00:02:35.889 --> 00:02:41.569 Of course, the big theme of peace on earth. And 00:02:41.569 --> 00:02:46.870 in the middle is a silhouette of presumably Joseph 00:02:46.870 --> 00:02:52.849 and Mary and the baby Jesus in a manger made 00:02:52.849 --> 00:02:57.310 of wood and hay, right? Again, like I said, this 00:02:57.310 --> 00:03:02.889 concept in itself was from the Christmas story 00:03:02.889 --> 00:03:07.409 in the Gospel of Luke. However, you find also 00:03:07.409 --> 00:03:14.550 the star, which was the sign that led the wise 00:03:14.550 --> 00:03:19.710 men to find the Messiah that was born in Bethlehem. 00:03:19.729 --> 00:03:23.699 And this was from the Gospel of Matthew. So what 00:03:23.699 --> 00:03:27.259 we find here, what we have here is the combination 00:03:27.259 --> 00:03:32.039 of two Christmas stories. One from Luke and the 00:03:32.039 --> 00:03:36.340 other one is from the Gospel of Matthew. The 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:41.740 moment you combine two stories into one, okay? 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:46.300 The moment you take one story from one book and 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:49.050 then another story from another book. And then 00:03:49.050 --> 00:03:51.969 come up with a teaching that this is what God 00:03:51.969 --> 00:03:56.330 is trying to tell us. You have actually done 00:03:56.330 --> 00:04:00.669 a methodology. You conducted a method that is 00:04:00.669 --> 00:04:03.550 called a canonical method. Let me explain this 00:04:03.550 --> 00:04:06.969 further. How many of us here still reads your 00:04:06.969 --> 00:04:12.030 Bible? You read the Bible? You do? Really? You 00:04:12.030 --> 00:04:15.650 actually read it? I come from a generation where 00:04:15.650 --> 00:04:19.829 I say, I used to say, open your Bibles, please, 00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:23.410 to the Gospel of Matthew. Nowadays, you don't 00:04:23.410 --> 00:04:27.730 do that. You say, you turn on your phones and 00:04:27.730 --> 00:04:30.490 turn it to the Gospel of Luke. You don't open 00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:34.750 Bible. Do you still bring Bibles with you? Really? 00:04:35.029 --> 00:04:38.689 Wow. Now, they will get to heaven first. You 00:04:38.689 --> 00:04:42.230 know that. So, for those of you, make sure you 00:04:42.230 --> 00:04:45.720 still have your book Bibles with you. The moment 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:48.879 you open your Bibles and start reading, whether 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.980 you are aware of it or not, you are engaged in 00:04:52.980 --> 00:04:56.759 an interpretation method. You cannot get away 00:04:56.759 --> 00:04:59.860 with it. The only issue is that you're probably 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:05.220 not aware that you are employing a method. And 00:05:05.220 --> 00:05:07.480 that is what you call, this is the most common 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:11.500 one in churches with pastors and teachers. Most 00:05:11.500 --> 00:05:14.240 common one is what you call the canonical method, 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:17.779 which came from the concept of or the word canon, 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:22.899 meaning the whole canon of the Bible. The Bible 00:05:22.899 --> 00:05:26.939 is God's word. That's why we can take from one 00:05:26.939 --> 00:05:30.899 book and explain another book and combine them 00:05:30.899 --> 00:05:33.459 together in that this is what God wants us to 00:05:33.459 --> 00:05:37.279 learn. How many books of the Bible do we have? 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:46.420 Very good. Surprised. Okay. How many books do 00:05:46.420 --> 00:05:53.220 the Catholics have in their Bibles? Just a little 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:57.259 bit. 72. That means they are more blessed than 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:02.519 us. You know that. How many books do the Orthodox 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:06.319 Church have? Oh, come on. You should know this. 00:06:08.060 --> 00:06:13.730 88. They're even far blessed than us. But the 00:06:13.730 --> 00:06:16.850 reason why we have these books is because they 00:06:16.850 --> 00:06:21.310 have canonized it. And groups of leaders during 00:06:21.310 --> 00:06:24.629 those days, they canonized these books. For us, 00:06:24.670 --> 00:06:30.689 it's only the 66 books. So when we open, I did 00:06:30.689 --> 00:06:37.829 not bring my Bible with me. I will still get 00:06:37.829 --> 00:06:42.300 to heaven, you know that. But far, probably later. 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.680 Anyway, when you open, when you turn on your 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:51.959 Bibles, you ask, Lord, what do you want me to 00:06:51.959 --> 00:06:54.459 learn today or this morning? If you do your Bible 00:06:54.459 --> 00:06:58.420 reading in the morning. You don't ask the authors 00:06:58.420 --> 00:07:02.300 of the books. We ask the ultimate author. And 00:07:02.300 --> 00:07:05.060 that is called canonical method. If I'm studying 00:07:05.060 --> 00:07:09.420 a text, and then I take... another passage from 00:07:09.420 --> 00:07:13.259 another book to explain the text that I'm studying. 00:07:14.139 --> 00:07:17.379 I just did the canonical method because I believe 00:07:17.379 --> 00:07:21.040 the Bible is authored by God himself. Is that 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:25.779 clear enough? Bless you, whoever that is. That's 00:07:25.779 --> 00:07:28.259 clear. So that's what you do. That is what we 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:31.660 commonly do when you study the Bible. And this 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:34.699 is what happened here. They combine the two stories 00:07:34.699 --> 00:07:37.579 of Christmas, the Christmas stories in one picture. 00:07:38.139 --> 00:07:41.620 The other one, the star, is from the Gospel of 00:07:41.620 --> 00:07:44.879 Matthew. This concept of the manger and the couple 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:49.860 is from the Gospel of Luke. Did you know that 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:52.980 in the Gospel of Matthew, the message of the 00:07:52.980 --> 00:07:57.980 birth of the Messiah is that He comes to cleanse 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:02.639 us from all our sins? But in the Gospel of Luke, 00:08:02.819 --> 00:08:07.579 the Messiah comes because God has now imparted 00:08:07.579 --> 00:08:11.420 peace on earth. That's the message in the Gospel 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:14.500 of Luke. I'd like to explain that further as 00:08:14.500 --> 00:08:19.079 I go. Now, there is another method that focuses 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:26.040 on what God wants us to learn, but it goes through 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:33.789 a specific author. himself to man. He did not 00:08:33.789 --> 00:08:39.549 simply write his message on golden tablets and 00:08:39.549 --> 00:08:42.970 then dropped it on earth for man to receive it. 00:08:42.990 --> 00:08:46.149 No, he didn't do it that way. What he did, through 00:08:46.149 --> 00:08:50.070 centuries and ages and years, he revealed himself 00:08:50.070 --> 00:08:54.690 to man through specific authors. And then these 00:08:54.690 --> 00:08:57.289 authors, through the guidance and inspiration 00:08:57.289 --> 00:09:00.539 of the Holy Spirit, they wrote The revelation 00:09:00.539 --> 00:09:04.679 of God. However, well, I feel that I'm in my 00:09:04.679 --> 00:09:06.679 classroom today. I'll give you an exam later 00:09:06.679 --> 00:09:10.200 on, okay? However, and we'll know who'll get 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:14.840 to heaven, too. When the author wrote God's revelation, 00:09:16.039 --> 00:09:19.799 They wrote it according to their own style of 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:22.759 writing and their own abilities to write and 00:09:22.759 --> 00:09:25.820 their own language that they were using. According 00:09:25.820 --> 00:09:30.360 to the context of their cultures and the political 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:33.500 situation and religious situation, they have 00:09:33.500 --> 00:09:37.299 their own styles of writing. And part of that 00:09:37.299 --> 00:09:41.299 style of writing or that writing itself has specific 00:09:41.299 --> 00:09:45.039 intentions. It may not necessarily be the... 00:09:45.419 --> 00:09:47.919 ultimate intention of god the ultimate intention 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:51.259 of god was to reveal himself but when he reveals 00:09:51.259 --> 00:09:54.500 he revealed himself it went through the writing 00:09:54.500 --> 00:10:00.220 of the authors so when you other than doing canonical 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:02.779 method there is another method that will ask 00:10:02.779 --> 00:10:06.899 god what do you want for me to learn today through 00:10:06.899 --> 00:10:10.899 this book through this author and that is what 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:13.820 you call narrative where is that that is what 00:10:13.820 --> 00:10:18.889 you call Narrative criticism. And this is the 00:10:18.889 --> 00:10:22.250 method that I would like for us to use, even 00:10:22.250 --> 00:10:25.690 for just today. Bear with me. I know after this 00:10:25.690 --> 00:10:30.950 you will no longer see me. It's okay. Just for 00:10:30.950 --> 00:10:33.830 the moment, I want us to use the narrative critical 00:10:33.830 --> 00:10:37.909 method, focusing simply on the text of Luke, 00:10:38.049 --> 00:10:41.169 and ask Luke, what was the intention of Luke 00:10:41.169 --> 00:10:44.850 when he wrote the Christmas? Why are we doing 00:10:44.850 --> 00:10:47.750 this? It's because we want to understand from 00:10:47.750 --> 00:10:50.450 the understanding, from the mind of Luke, what 00:10:50.450 --> 00:10:54.169 did he mean when he said that the angels, and 00:10:54.169 --> 00:10:57.649 the angels said to the shepherds, peace on earth. 00:10:58.029 --> 00:11:02.350 What kind of peace was he talking about? And 00:11:02.350 --> 00:11:05.070 believe me, this is the kind of peace that you 00:11:05.070 --> 00:11:07.750 would want to have. Because it's not just the 00:11:07.750 --> 00:11:11.009 peace that you use when you greet some people. 00:11:11.190 --> 00:11:15.490 This is the kind of peace that God decided to 00:11:15.490 --> 00:11:20.009 bring and give mankind for the salvation of the 00:11:20.009 --> 00:11:24.389 people he favors. This is the kind of peace that 00:11:24.389 --> 00:11:27.889 we would want to have when we are now trying 00:11:27.889 --> 00:11:30.309 to remember the Christmas story. So, are you 00:11:30.309 --> 00:11:33.879 okay with this? You still love me for this? Say, 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:37.840 please say yes. Please say yes. Yes, good. Narrative 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:39.820 criticism. This will be the method that we're 00:11:39.820 --> 00:11:44.899 going to use. Then let's begin. When you're studying 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:48.139 a narrative, and by the way, the Bible is 80 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:53.039 to 85 % narrative. Okay? So that means you need 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:57.299 to study narrative method because it's almost 00:11:57.299 --> 00:12:00.360 all of the Bible. If you want to ask the question, 00:12:00.500 --> 00:12:04.240 what is the author trying to say? So when an 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:08.000 author writes a story, writes especially a narrative 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:12.720 setting, you need to pay particular attention 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:16.179 to the setting of the narrative. The setting 00:12:16.179 --> 00:12:20.019 will dictate the major content of the story. 00:12:20.779 --> 00:12:24.220 If you simply look at the middle of the story, 00:12:24.379 --> 00:12:27.580 forgetting the setting that he has set, the author 00:12:27.580 --> 00:12:33.350 has set, then you will be misled to the intention 00:12:33.350 --> 00:12:36.389 of the author. So the setting is very crucial 00:12:36.389 --> 00:12:40.470 when the author is telling a story. So what is 00:12:40.470 --> 00:12:44.450 the setting in Luke chapter 2? Now again, we're 00:12:44.450 --> 00:12:47.570 studying, Christmas is just around the corner. 00:12:48.370 --> 00:12:50.570 I want you to understand that when Christmas 00:12:50.570 --> 00:12:53.990 comes, you will begin to see, hey, this is the 00:12:53.990 --> 00:12:57.120 message of Christmas in the Gospel of Luke. And 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.440 you will start by establishing the setting of 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.500 the story. What is it? Well, it goes like this. 00:13:02.620 --> 00:13:07.500 It starts in chapter 2, verses 1 to 20, but let 00:13:07.500 --> 00:13:13.059 me start with verses 1 to 3. It says here, in 00:13:13.059 --> 00:13:17.460 those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:21.059 a census should be taken of the entire Roman 00:13:21.059 --> 00:13:24.139 world. This is Luke talking, okay? Through God. 00:13:24.649 --> 00:13:27.990 I mean, God, through Luke, Luke writing down 00:13:27.990 --> 00:13:29.830 what he was receiving from God through the Holy 00:13:29.830 --> 00:13:33.809 Spirit. This was the first census that took place 00:13:33.809 --> 00:13:37.870 while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:41.509 went to their own town to register. How many 00:13:41.509 --> 00:13:44.990 of us have read this before? You have, you have. 00:13:45.090 --> 00:13:50.789 Merry Christmas. There are so many teachings, 00:13:50.950 --> 00:13:53.809 so many scholars and teachers. and even pastors 00:13:53.809 --> 00:13:57.289 in churches, who believe, they believe that the 00:13:57.289 --> 00:14:03.190 function of these three verses is to serve as 00:14:03.190 --> 00:14:06.070 a timestamp of the birth of Christ. In other 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:08.889 words, the birth of Jesus, the birth of the Messiah, 00:14:09.049 --> 00:14:13.070 happened during this time. Okay? It's sorts of 00:14:13.070 --> 00:14:15.549 like, and the reason, the main reason why they 00:14:15.549 --> 00:14:19.860 say that, it's because... it proves that the 00:14:19.860 --> 00:14:22.480 birth of Jesus, birth of the baby Jesus, birth 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:26.200 of the Messiah, was or is historical or was historical 00:14:26.200 --> 00:14:32.299 because of this. Well, let me make another suggestion. 00:14:32.519 --> 00:14:37.899 I think there's more than just a timestamp or 00:14:37.899 --> 00:14:41.179 dating of the event that is going on here. I 00:14:41.179 --> 00:14:46.659 think verse 2 is a timestamp. That's why it's 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:49.679 also in parentheses. This was the first census 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:52.220 that took place while Quirinius was governor 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:57.419 of Syria. What is it time stamping for if there's 00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:01.559 such a term? It is saying that the order of Caesar 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:05.080 Augustus happened during the time when Quirinius 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:09.000 was governor of Syria. So you may be asking yourselves 00:15:09.000 --> 00:15:12.299 right now, then if verse 2 is the time stamp, 00:15:12.480 --> 00:15:17.299 what is the purpose of verse 1? Well, this is 00:15:17.299 --> 00:15:23.080 the setting on the very reason why Joseph had 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:27.139 to drag Mary with her to Bethlehem. In the Gospel 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:30.379 of Matthew, the reason why Joseph had to go to 00:15:30.379 --> 00:15:33.080 Bethlehem was to fulfill the prophecy that the 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:36.340 Messiah will be born in Bethlehem. In the Gospel 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:39.940 of Luke, it is not. The text doesn't say that. 00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:43.360 Luke doesn't say that. In the Gospel of Luke, 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:46.960 the reason why... Joseph and Mary had to go to 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:51.139 Bethlehem was because of this guy, Caesar Augustus, 00:15:51.139 --> 00:15:55.620 who ordered a decree for everyone. Look at verse 00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:58.960 3. And everyone, for everyone to go to their 00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:03.799 birthplaces and register. Register for what? 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:07.370 Probably for tax purposes. Some people suggest 00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:10.990 that. Regardless of the reason why they had to 00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:14.610 go there, everyone should go there. No exemptions. 00:16:14.610 --> 00:16:18.029 If not, you're in trouble. That's the law. Did 00:16:18.029 --> 00:16:21.009 you know that the Greek word for decree is dogma? 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:25.840 It is the dogma that is the rule, the order of 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:31.039 the Roman Emperor with countries under the Roman 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:34.840 Empire. No exemptions, everyone. That means if 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:38.139 you are under and all of Israel should obey, 00:16:38.360 --> 00:16:42.720 you should go and register because of the order. 00:16:42.940 --> 00:16:45.860 So that's the difference between Matthew and 00:16:45.860 --> 00:16:49.799 Luke. Are you following me? You're okay? If somebody's 00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:52.549 dozing off, can you please? Greet him and say, 00:16:52.610 --> 00:16:55.649 peace be with you. You can do that again. But 00:16:55.649 --> 00:16:58.990 this time don't smile. Peace be with you. So 00:16:58.990 --> 00:17:01.389 that's the setting. This is what Luke wanted 00:17:01.389 --> 00:17:03.590 you to understand. He's going to tell the story. 00:17:03.730 --> 00:17:06.170 He started with this setting. There was an order. 00:17:06.829 --> 00:17:10.609 Now, this is Caesar Augustus. This is the house 00:17:10.609 --> 00:17:14.529 of Caesar. All of the emperors during that time 00:17:14.529 --> 00:17:17.589 were named Caesar. And this time it was Caesar 00:17:17.589 --> 00:17:22.359 Augustus. gave a decree. He handed the law. Everyone 00:17:22.359 --> 00:17:25.480 should go and be registered. Now, there are only, 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:27.680 and this is not good. You know why? There are 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:32.339 only three occasions in the Gospel of Luke where 00:17:32.339 --> 00:17:36.920 the house of Caesar is mentioned. Only three. 00:17:37.259 --> 00:17:40.660 And believe me, all of them are not good. Let 00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:43.700 me give you the third one first. The third one. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:53.960 There you go. Okay. The third one is found in 00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:58.720 Luke chapter 20, verses 19 to 26. It says here, 00:17:58.819 --> 00:18:02.559 just observe how the author is trying to lay 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:06.420 down the setting of another story. He says, the 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:09.319 teachers of the law and the chief priests looked 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:14.180 for a way to arrest Jesus immediately because 00:18:14.180 --> 00:18:17.660 they knew he had spoken this parable against 00:18:17.660 --> 00:18:21.000 them. But they were afraid of the people. The 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:23.700 people were behind Jesus and the religious leaders 00:18:23.700 --> 00:18:28.380 were actually being attacked by Jesus through 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:31.819 his illustrations, the parable. And so, keeping 00:18:31.819 --> 00:18:35.920 a close watch on him, they sent spies who pretended 00:18:35.920 --> 00:18:40.240 to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:44.980 he said so that they might hand him over to the... 00:18:45.309 --> 00:18:48.490 Power and authority of the governor. In other 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:52.369 words, the religious leaders were trying to set 00:18:52.369 --> 00:18:56.329 a trap. That's the setting, okay? They were trying 00:18:56.329 --> 00:18:59.950 to set a trap on Jesus so that they will have 00:18:59.950 --> 00:19:03.029 a cause for him to be arrested or to be handed 00:19:03.029 --> 00:19:06.829 over to the authorities. So what happened? You're 00:19:06.829 --> 00:19:09.690 familiar with this. So the spies questioned him. 00:19:09.869 --> 00:19:13.589 Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what 00:19:13.589 --> 00:19:16.980 is right. And that you do not show partiality, 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:20.599 but teach the way of God in accordance with the 00:19:20.599 --> 00:19:24.240 truth. Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar 00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.880 or not? You're familiar with this story, right? 00:19:28.019 --> 00:19:32.140 How many of you here pay your taxes? How many 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:36.920 of you here pay your taxes to Caesar? Of course, 00:19:36.940 --> 00:19:40.299 that's different now. But that is the setting 00:19:40.299 --> 00:19:43.980 of the story. They wanted to trap Jesus. So what 00:19:43.980 --> 00:19:47.680 did Jesus say? He saw, I mean, this is Luke speaking. 00:19:47.859 --> 00:19:50.660 He said, he saw through, I mean, through Jesus, 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:53.779 he saw through their duplicity and said to them, 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:57.400 show me a denarius whose image and inscription 00:19:57.400 --> 00:20:02.059 are on it. Caesar's, they replied. He said to 00:20:02.059 --> 00:20:04.720 them, then give back to Caesar what is Caesar's 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.819 and to God what is God's. They were unable to 00:20:08.819 --> 00:20:12.200 trap him in what he had said there in public. 00:20:12.750 --> 00:20:16.630 And astonished by his answer, they became silent. 00:20:17.130 --> 00:20:22.150 In other words, Jesus was successful in escaping 00:20:22.150 --> 00:20:25.210 the trap. Now, the reason why I'm emphasizing, 00:20:25.349 --> 00:20:27.490 I don't have time to teach on this. This will 00:20:27.490 --> 00:20:29.670 be on a different occasion if I get to teach 00:20:29.670 --> 00:20:34.710 this text. Jesus was not starting or teaching 00:20:34.710 --> 00:20:39.059 a theology on paying taxes. I'm quite surprised 00:20:39.059 --> 00:20:41.640 that there are some people, some churches who 00:20:41.640 --> 00:20:45.059 actually use this passage to justify that we 00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:47.019 should pay our taxes and then we should also 00:20:47.019 --> 00:20:49.559 give what is God's. That is not what Jesus was 00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:52.200 trying to do. He was not starting a teaching 00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:56.180 about what to do with your money. No. Don't forget 00:20:56.180 --> 00:20:58.680 the setting. The setting is they were trying 00:20:58.680 --> 00:21:02.279 to set a trap. And Jesus successfully escaped 00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:06.410 the trap. because of his wisdom and his abilities 00:21:06.410 --> 00:21:10.069 and knowing the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. 00:21:10.289 --> 00:21:13.630 But what is crucial here is the setting. The 00:21:13.630 --> 00:21:16.509 setting showed us that the point of the story 00:21:16.509 --> 00:21:21.329 is not about paying taxes to Caesar. There are 00:21:21.329 --> 00:21:23.210 other passages that you could use, like, for 00:21:23.210 --> 00:21:26.269 example, submit to the authorities and those 00:21:26.269 --> 00:21:29.910 things that you can use in teaching that practice. 00:21:30.190 --> 00:21:32.819 But in this case, The setting is very important. 00:21:33.079 --> 00:21:35.819 But what I'd like to point out in this story 00:21:35.819 --> 00:21:38.940 is that the picture of the house of Caesar is 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:43.680 that good. It is a picture, it is a rule of oppression. 00:21:44.380 --> 00:21:49.279 A rule of injustice. A rule of forcing people 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.839 that were conquered by their conquerors. That 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:56.380 you have to pay taxes to our foreign conquerors. 00:21:56.480 --> 00:21:59.039 That's the picture of the house of Caesar here. 00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:02.299 The second occasion by which the house of Caesar 00:22:02.299 --> 00:22:06.240 is mentioned is in Luke chapter 3, verses 1 to 00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:08.420 3. Just follow with me, bear with me. It says 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:12.039 here, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius 00:22:12.039 --> 00:22:15.839 Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, 00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:19.400 Herod, tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip, 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:24.839 tetrarch of Etyria and Trichonis, and Lysanias, 00:22:24.880 --> 00:22:27.720 tetrarch of Abilene. I was telling the first 00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:30.460 service. I brought with me the wrong glasses. 00:22:30.940 --> 00:22:34.359 So, I think it's best to look here. Now, these 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:36.799 are the leaders of the government during that 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.500 time by the Roman Empire. Tetrarch means sort 00:22:40.500 --> 00:22:45.019 of like a mayor. And then, verse 2. During the 00:22:45.019 --> 00:22:47.559 high priesthood. Now, the religious leaders who 00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:50.759 were puppet leaders by the Roman Empire. It says 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.660 here, during the high priesthood of Annas and 00:22:53.660 --> 00:22:57.390 Caiaphas. The word of God came to John, son of 00:22:57.390 --> 00:23:00.769 Zechariah, in the wilderness. He went into all 00:23:00.769 --> 00:23:03.630 the country around Jordan, preaching a baptism 00:23:03.630 --> 00:23:06.750 of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Now, 00:23:06.769 --> 00:23:08.369 there are some teachings who would say, this 00:23:08.369 --> 00:23:11.829 is a timestamp. It is saying that this was the 00:23:11.829 --> 00:23:15.190 time when John the Baptist preached the baptism 00:23:15.190 --> 00:23:18.490 of repentance and forgiveness. I don't think 00:23:18.490 --> 00:23:21.589 so. I think this is more than just a timestamp. 00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:24.680 Can you imagine enumerating all of the leaders 00:23:24.680 --> 00:23:27.220 of the government during those days and all of 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:31.180 the religious leaders under the Roman emperor 00:23:31.180 --> 00:23:33.960 during those days? And immediately after that, 00:23:34.099 --> 00:23:38.240 the text says, God sent John the Baptist to go 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:41.019 out and preach the baptism of repentance and 00:23:41.019 --> 00:23:44.400 forgiveness. Why? Because these leaders, especially 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:46.960 the house of Caesar, is oppressive and corrupt. 00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:50.039 That is basically what the text is saying. So 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:54.359 that when you go back to Luke chapter 1, the 00:23:54.359 --> 00:23:57.779 mention of Caesar Augustus, that was not simply 00:23:57.779 --> 00:24:02.359 a time stamp. It is indicating the kind of timing 00:24:02.359 --> 00:24:05.779 where God had to intervene this time because 00:24:05.779 --> 00:24:09.339 he has seen the oppression that his people, his 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:13.640 children have been going through because of Caesar, 00:24:13.859 --> 00:24:17.380 the house of Caesar. This time, order the decree. 00:24:17.519 --> 00:24:21.339 You go and you register because I ordered you. 00:24:21.819 --> 00:24:25.680 That was my decree. A very oppressive government. 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:29.460 If you're familiar with the term Pax Romana, 00:24:29.539 --> 00:24:34.220 which is in Latin, this is the peace of Rome. 00:24:34.539 --> 00:24:38.400 Indeed, during the highest... At the height of 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:42.160 the reign of Rome, peace was all over the Roman 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:46.680 Empire. Why? It was not peace conducted or ruled 00:24:46.680 --> 00:24:50.519 with love. It was the kind of peace that they 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:55.339 achieved because of an iron fist and the oppressive 00:24:55.339 --> 00:24:58.700 rule of government. It was during the time when 00:24:58.700 --> 00:25:02.359 Caesar issued a decree that God said, it's time 00:25:02.359 --> 00:25:05.619 for me to intervene. They thought that the Roman 00:25:05.619 --> 00:25:09.200 Empire was in control. It was time for God to 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:12.900 say, enough is enough. I will take control. That 00:25:12.900 --> 00:25:15.660 is the setting that the author was trying to 00:25:15.660 --> 00:25:26.039 say. Now, what do you see here? I see men. Are 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:28.380 you familiar with the phrase, I see dead people? 00:25:29.700 --> 00:25:36.140 No, it came from that movie. Six cents. But when 00:25:36.140 --> 00:25:39.220 I was thinking about this, I see men, but they're 00:25:39.220 --> 00:25:44.880 not dead. I see unhappy men. I see busy men. 00:25:45.500 --> 00:25:50.500 And I see men who are rushing. Now, this was 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:53.579 a picture taken in India during the deadlines 00:25:53.579 --> 00:25:58.619 of paying taxes. And the reason why I'm sharing 00:25:58.619 --> 00:26:01.329 this with you is that... I want you to picture 00:26:01.329 --> 00:26:04.630 in your mind Joseph dragging his fiancée, who, 00:26:04.690 --> 00:26:08.009 by the way, was nine months pregnant, to go to 00:26:08.009 --> 00:26:10.430 a place which he didn't like to go in the first 00:26:10.430 --> 00:26:13.930 place because he was ordered to. Can you imagine 00:26:13.930 --> 00:26:18.609 how inconvenient that is? With a fiancée that 00:26:18.609 --> 00:26:20.789 I should be, if I were Joseph, I should be focusing 00:26:20.789 --> 00:26:23.190 on our marriage. But I have to do this. I have 00:26:23.190 --> 00:26:28.740 to take you with me. And you're big now. That 00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:31.279 was tough. I don't know how many luggages they 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:35.240 had to bring with them. I travel a lot because 00:26:35.240 --> 00:26:38.980 of my work. I teach from here and I teach there. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:43.380 When I travel, I travel lightly. I only take 00:26:43.380 --> 00:26:47.099 with me one suitcase, which is that I can put 00:26:47.099 --> 00:26:50.640 in the cabin. But when my wife travels with me, 00:26:50.759 --> 00:26:53.960 it's a different story. I have to carry three. 00:26:55.240 --> 00:26:59.279 She needs at least three luggages. But what I'm 00:26:59.279 --> 00:27:01.140 trying to say is the inconvenience sometimes 00:27:01.140 --> 00:27:06.960 that Joseph had to face because of the decree. 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:11.440 A decree that many of the people in Israel resented. 00:27:11.980 --> 00:27:16.119 And this is what is going on in these days. Don't 00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:19.900 forget the setting. So the first act, what happened? 00:27:20.039 --> 00:27:23.299 The need to register. It says here, so Joseph 00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:26.119 also went up from the town of Nazareth. went 00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:30.180 up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, 00:27:30.180 --> 00:27:33.980 to Bethlehem, the town of David. Why did he need 00:27:33.980 --> 00:27:36.299 to go to Bethlehem? Not because it was prophesied, 00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:41.960 but because it was where his lineage come from. 00:27:42.200 --> 00:27:44.660 Because he belonged to the house and line of 00:27:44.660 --> 00:27:48.440 David. He went there to register with Mary, who 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:52.819 was pledged to be married to him and was expecting 00:27:52.819 --> 00:27:55.660 a child. You see, that... The verse could have 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:58.880 simply stopped at who was pledged to be married 00:27:58.880 --> 00:28:01.480 with him. But they had to indicate, the author 00:28:01.480 --> 00:28:04.420 had to include the phrase, and was expecting 00:28:04.420 --> 00:28:07.839 a child. Because, I mean, for you to be able, 00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:10.380 the readers to be able to get a picture in their 00:28:10.380 --> 00:28:14.960 mind of how difficult the situation was. And 00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.099 then it goes on to say, while they were there, 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:22.119 the time came for the baby to be born. I don't 00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:25.849 think... Joseph, this is just my reading of the 00:28:25.849 --> 00:28:28.190 text. I don't think Joseph thought of that. Probably 00:28:28.190 --> 00:28:31.609 he thought that, okay, I'll just do this. And 00:28:31.609 --> 00:28:34.829 hopefully once it's done, we can go back to Galilee 00:28:34.829 --> 00:28:40.309 or yeah, to where, yeah, in Nazareth. What happened 00:28:40.309 --> 00:28:43.430 probably because of delay. And so picture in 00:28:43.430 --> 00:28:47.130 your mind, everyone going to their own hometowns, 00:28:47.130 --> 00:28:50.710 the need to register and those places were packed. 00:28:51.309 --> 00:28:56.730 Now Joseph and Mary were not going for a holiday. 00:28:57.069 --> 00:29:00.150 It was not Thanksgiving. It was not the time 00:29:00.150 --> 00:29:04.529 to visit family. They didn't even register, stayed 00:29:04.529 --> 00:29:06.990 with family. They were there to register because 00:29:06.990 --> 00:29:11.670 of the decree. And so they went there and probably 00:29:11.670 --> 00:29:14.690 it took so much time before they could accomplish 00:29:14.690 --> 00:29:16.910 or he could accomplish what he needed to do. 00:29:16.990 --> 00:29:20.920 And the baby was born. And the text says, And 00:29:20.920 --> 00:29:26.440 she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:31.079 him in cloths and placed him in a manger because 00:29:31.079 --> 00:29:35.519 there was no guest room available for them. Now, 00:29:35.579 --> 00:29:40.480 I'd like to just emphasize this. This verse is 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:44.640 not saying or is not communicating humility. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.119 The text doesn't say that. That Jesus and his 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:54.750 family were of humble beginnings because the 00:29:54.750 --> 00:29:57.990 baby was born in a manger. The text doesn't say 00:29:57.990 --> 00:30:01.130 that. The reason, and it's clear, the reason 00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:04.309 why the baby was born and placed in a manger 00:30:04.309 --> 00:30:08.470 was because of the situation that needed or that 00:30:08.470 --> 00:30:12.569 compelled them to do because there was no more 00:30:12.569 --> 00:30:16.980 room to place the baby in. That's the reason. 00:30:17.180 --> 00:30:20.299 It's not about humility. It's not about poverty. 00:30:20.519 --> 00:30:24.039 It's about the difficult situation they were 00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:30.039 in. So what happened? Now, Luke takes us to a 00:30:30.039 --> 00:30:33.220 second act. This time, the primary characters 00:30:33.220 --> 00:30:35.940 and their conversation. If you notice, in the 00:30:35.940 --> 00:30:42.200 first act, Mary, Joseph, and the baby were not 00:30:42.200 --> 00:30:47.039 talking. They did not speak. Because they were 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:50.559 not primary characters. Probably this is hard 00:30:50.559 --> 00:30:53.259 for some to take. What? I mean, they were the 00:30:53.259 --> 00:30:55.559 first family. They were the holy family. True. 00:30:55.900 --> 00:30:59.019 But when the author was writing this, he was 00:30:59.019 --> 00:31:01.720 not saying that you focus yourselves on the family. 00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:06.400 He was saying that you need to focus on the people 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:11.559 who are talking. In Hollywood, if you do research, 00:31:13.289 --> 00:31:18.130 Actors and actresses are paid on how famous they 00:31:18.130 --> 00:31:21.930 are and also how many lines they are about to 00:31:21.930 --> 00:31:26.349 speak. So I read this about Arnold Schwarzenegger 00:31:26.349 --> 00:31:30.630 when he first accepted his character in The Terminator. 00:31:30.849 --> 00:31:33.930 And he only spoke a few lines and he was only 00:31:33.930 --> 00:31:36.549 paid a few because of that. And his famous line, 00:31:36.750 --> 00:31:40.490 I'll be back, which became famous. I don't know 00:31:40.490 --> 00:31:42.970 how much he got paid for that. But in narrative 00:31:42.970 --> 00:31:46.269 setting, the characters who are talking, you 00:31:46.269 --> 00:31:49.549 need to pay particular attention to that under 00:31:49.549 --> 00:31:53.029 the framework of the setting. Because those characters 00:31:53.029 --> 00:31:57.069 who are speaking bear the message of the whole 00:31:57.069 --> 00:31:59.789 story. And in this case, it's the conversation 00:31:59.789 --> 00:32:03.549 between the angel and the shepherds. So it says 00:32:03.549 --> 00:32:06.589 here, and there were shepherds living out in 00:32:06.589 --> 00:32:11.079 the fields nearby. keeping watch over their flocks 00:32:11.079 --> 00:32:14.599 at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, 00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:18.740 and the glory of the Lord shone around him, and 00:32:18.740 --> 00:32:23.039 they were terrified. Now I can understand, how 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:27.559 many of us here have seen an angel? In the Old 00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:31.319 Testament, every time an angel appears to somebody, 00:32:33.140 --> 00:32:36.420 It's expected. You will be terrified. Because 00:32:36.420 --> 00:32:38.980 every time they appear to you, that means you're 00:32:38.980 --> 00:32:43.359 in trouble. It's true. There's bad news that 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:46.740 they are carrying because of your disobedience 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:50.440 against Yahweh. Now, in this case, they were 00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:53.660 terrified. And that's why the angel said, don't 00:32:53.660 --> 00:32:56.940 be afraid. Don't be afraid. Later on, he says 00:32:56.940 --> 00:33:00.980 that. Now, there's this question that somebody 00:33:00.980 --> 00:33:04.380 asked me. What is so special about the shepherds 00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:07.099 that they were chosen to be the first ones to 00:33:07.099 --> 00:33:09.599 receive the good news that the Messiah has been 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:11.940 born? Because there were some teachings that 00:33:11.940 --> 00:33:15.000 are going around that says that, oh, because 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:18.900 shepherds are liars. And shepherds, they hallucinate 00:33:18.900 --> 00:33:21.599 a lot. And this is the time for them that they 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:24.319 will be able to redeem themselves. The text doesn't 00:33:24.319 --> 00:33:27.099 say that. The reason why they were the ones who 00:33:27.099 --> 00:33:30.779 received the blessing of the news that the Messiah 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:33.799 had been born? The text already says it. Because 00:33:33.799 --> 00:33:36.859 they were the ones out in the field looking after 00:33:36.859 --> 00:33:39.380 their flock. Where were the other people? In 00:33:39.380 --> 00:33:41.519 their homes, getting ready for the registry. 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:44.980 The others were there. And it so happened that 00:33:44.980 --> 00:33:46.700 the shepherds were there. And then suddenly, 00:33:46.819 --> 00:33:52.640 an angel appeared towards them. And this angel 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:56.420 said, it says here in the next verse. But the 00:33:56.420 --> 00:33:59.970 angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring 00:33:59.970 --> 00:34:03.809 you good news. Good news that will cause great 00:34:03.809 --> 00:34:08.110 joy for the people. What good news? What great 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:10.969 joy? Don't forget the context. Don't forget the 00:34:10.969 --> 00:34:13.769 setting. It has something to do with the life 00:34:13.769 --> 00:34:16.670 that they were living against an oppressive government. 00:34:17.170 --> 00:34:23.190 And God has had enough. This has got to stop. 00:34:23.269 --> 00:34:27.550 This evil world needs to stop. I bring you great 00:34:27.550 --> 00:34:30.670 joy for all the people. And then today, today 00:34:30.670 --> 00:34:33.309 in the town of David, the Savior has been born 00:34:33.309 --> 00:34:36.570 to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will 00:34:36.570 --> 00:34:40.590 be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped 00:34:40.590 --> 00:34:45.730 in cloths and lying in a manger. I've taught 00:34:45.730 --> 00:34:48.590 this so many times. I've written articles on 00:34:48.590 --> 00:34:51.530 this. And even until now, every time I get to 00:34:51.530 --> 00:34:54.750 this verse, it gives me the goosebumps and I 00:34:54.750 --> 00:34:59.440 get so emotional because... What God did was 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:04.900 use Caesar's decree against him. When you can 00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:10.099 see that people were rushing to finish things 00:35:10.099 --> 00:35:13.980 that they didn't even want to do. And that was 00:35:13.980 --> 00:35:16.659 the reason why the baby was placed in a manger. 00:35:16.840 --> 00:35:19.880 And then the angel said, you know how you will 00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:24.449 find the Messiah? Look for a baby, the only babies 00:35:24.449 --> 00:35:27.530 among other babies in Bethlehem. Look for a baby 00:35:27.530 --> 00:35:31.630 wrapped in cloths and is placed in a manger. 00:35:31.789 --> 00:35:38.110 You will only find one. This is God saying, it's 00:35:38.110 --> 00:35:41.309 time to intervene. It's my time. It's my peace. 00:35:41.389 --> 00:35:45.630 It is the peace of God against the peace of Rome. 00:35:49.230 --> 00:35:54.889 This is a picture of an ancient manger carved 00:35:54.889 --> 00:35:59.050 out of rock. This is most likely how the baby 00:35:59.050 --> 00:36:02.150 was placed during that time. Not the kind of 00:36:02.150 --> 00:36:04.269 picture that we see in greeting cards where it's 00:36:04.269 --> 00:36:07.269 made of wood and hay. I don't think that will 00:36:07.269 --> 00:36:10.250 survive. I've worked in a farm, in a piggery 00:36:10.250 --> 00:36:12.909 before. And when we feed the pigs, we feed them 00:36:12.909 --> 00:36:19.429 in a concrete trough like this. Believe me, they 00:36:19.429 --> 00:36:23.849 are so aggressive. Even the concrete manger or 00:36:23.849 --> 00:36:26.929 trough like this will not survive. You will have 00:36:26.929 --> 00:36:31.349 to repair it as years go by. But this is most 00:36:31.349 --> 00:36:34.329 likely how it looked like. And this was the sign 00:36:34.329 --> 00:36:40.650 that the shepherds were looking for. Suddenly, 00:36:40.670 --> 00:36:44.039 a great company of the heavenly host. appeared 00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:46.940 with the angel, praising God and saying, Glory 00:36:46.940 --> 00:36:50.360 to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace 00:36:50.360 --> 00:36:55.199 to those on whom his favor rests. This Luke had 00:36:55.199 --> 00:36:59.619 to write because he wants us to understand something. 00:36:59.780 --> 00:37:03.380 I don't think God ordered the angels to sing. 00:37:03.880 --> 00:37:09.219 I don't think God said to the angels, Okay, you 00:37:09.219 --> 00:37:11.650 rehearse. So that when you give this news, you 00:37:11.650 --> 00:37:13.929 will sing together and you will praise me. No. 00:37:14.190 --> 00:37:18.809 I think, this is my suggestion. I think the angels 00:37:18.809 --> 00:37:24.670 themselves couldn't contain the power and the 00:37:24.670 --> 00:37:30.250 greatness of God's decision to intervene in man's 00:37:30.250 --> 00:37:34.219 history. That they themselves said... Glory to 00:37:34.219 --> 00:37:36.699 God in the highest heaven. Because they have 00:37:36.699 --> 00:37:39.619 seen the suffering of God's children. And they 00:37:39.619 --> 00:37:42.780 have seen the greatness and majesty of God. And 00:37:42.780 --> 00:37:45.460 they said, glory to you. Glory to God in the 00:37:45.460 --> 00:37:48.059 highest heaven. And then the rest of the angels 00:37:48.059 --> 00:37:52.199 in heaven were singing and praising him. Because 00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:56.260 that is how great he is. Because that is how 00:37:56.260 --> 00:38:00.760 powerful. And later on you will see how painful 00:38:00.760 --> 00:38:07.650 for him. to send His only Son, so that you will 00:38:07.650 --> 00:38:11.250 no longer be oppressed. You will have the peace 00:38:11.250 --> 00:38:20.449 of God. The response, the third act, takes us 00:38:20.449 --> 00:38:23.769 to another scene. What happened? When the angels 00:38:23.769 --> 00:38:27.809 had left them and gone into heaven, The shepherds 00:38:27.809 --> 00:38:30.869 said to one another, let's stay here. We're just 00:38:30.869 --> 00:38:34.309 hallucinating. No. Look at how they responded. 00:38:34.309 --> 00:38:37.809 Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that 00:38:37.809 --> 00:38:41.070 has happened, which the Lord has told us about. 00:38:41.369 --> 00:38:45.690 So they hurried off. They hurried off as fast 00:38:45.690 --> 00:38:49.829 as they could and found Mary and Joseph and the 00:38:49.829 --> 00:38:54.150 baby who was lying in the manger. The sign. In 00:38:54.150 --> 00:38:57.010 the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men were looking 00:38:57.010 --> 00:39:00.829 for the star to see and find the Messiah. In 00:39:00.829 --> 00:39:03.449 the Gospel of Luke, they were looking for a manger. 00:39:03.630 --> 00:39:06.329 And the moment they saw it, among all other babies, 00:39:06.510 --> 00:39:10.329 there was somebody, just one, that is the Messiah. 00:39:10.690 --> 00:39:13.889 What happened then? When they had seen him, they 00:39:13.889 --> 00:39:16.809 spread the word concerning what had been laid. 00:39:17.010 --> 00:39:19.889 They told them. They spread the word. They did 00:39:19.889 --> 00:39:23.650 keep it to themselves. about this child. And 00:39:23.650 --> 00:39:27.909 all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds 00:39:27.909 --> 00:39:33.250 said to them. That's evangelism to you. But Mary 00:39:33.250 --> 00:39:35.889 treasured up all these things and pondered them 00:39:35.889 --> 00:39:38.610 in their heart. Luke is preparing this story 00:39:38.610 --> 00:39:41.329 and Mary to the second, the next story, which 00:39:41.329 --> 00:39:45.349 is Jesus getting lost in the temple. The shepherds 00:39:45.349 --> 00:39:47.670 returned glorifying, praising God for all the 00:39:47.670 --> 00:39:52.019 things they had heard and seen. which were just 00:39:52.019 --> 00:39:59.179 as they had been told. Peace was completed. But 00:39:59.179 --> 00:40:02.300 the angels did not say to the shepherds, hey, 00:40:02.420 --> 00:40:05.559 you know, this is what is going to cost God the 00:40:05.559 --> 00:40:09.199 Father. He didn't say that. Now look at, let 00:40:09.199 --> 00:40:11.760 me just show you something. What do you see? 00:40:13.260 --> 00:40:16.320 I see most likely, this one I see a dead person, 00:40:16.460 --> 00:40:21.389 wrapped in linen cloth. And placed in a rock, 00:40:21.469 --> 00:40:26.789 a tomb rock or a rock tomb. Look at how Luke 00:40:26.789 --> 00:40:29.309 described it at the end of his, almost at the 00:40:29.309 --> 00:40:34.449 end of his gospel. In Luke 22, 52 to 53, going 00:40:34.449 --> 00:40:37.869 to Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea. He asked for 00:40:37.869 --> 00:40:41.269 Jesus' body. Then he took it down, wrapped it 00:40:41.269 --> 00:40:46.090 in linen cloth. That sounds familiar. And placed 00:40:46.090 --> 00:40:49.699 it in a tomb cut out, cut in the rock. one in 00:40:49.699 --> 00:40:53.059 which no one had yet been laid. Do you know why 00:40:53.059 --> 00:40:56.059 the author included the last phrase, one in which 00:40:56.059 --> 00:40:59.619 no one had yet been laid? As the manger was going 00:40:59.619 --> 00:41:02.119 to be the sign for the shepherds that you will 00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:07.039 find the Messiah. The phrase, one in which no 00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:10.639 one had yet been laid, is the sign for the disciples 00:41:10.639 --> 00:41:15.840 to see that Jesus truly resurrected, bodily resurrection. 00:41:16.519 --> 00:41:18.639 Can you imagine if the disciples rushed to the 00:41:18.639 --> 00:41:21.099 tomb and they found other bodies there? How can 00:41:21.099 --> 00:41:23.980 you prove the empty tomb if it was not empty? 00:41:24.420 --> 00:41:27.780 This has to be stated by the author himself because 00:41:27.780 --> 00:41:31.039 he is talking to you that the birth of the Messiah 00:41:31.039 --> 00:41:34.539 was not just about the Christmas story where 00:41:34.539 --> 00:41:38.480 the baby has been born. It's also about the fact 00:41:38.480 --> 00:41:42.639 that God, Jesus himself, died on the cross, gave 00:41:42.639 --> 00:41:45.340 his life. was placed in the tomb, wrapped in 00:41:45.340 --> 00:41:50.059 linen cloth, and resurrected for you. And that's 00:41:50.059 --> 00:41:57.039 why you have an empty tomb. Peace to those on 00:41:57.039 --> 00:42:01.000 whom His favor rests. This is what you find in 00:42:01.000 --> 00:42:06.239 the Gospel of Luke, in the Christmas story from 00:42:06.239 --> 00:42:09.039 the NIV version. Now there's another version, 00:42:09.159 --> 00:42:12.679 peace... on earth and goodwill to all men. Well, 00:42:12.780 --> 00:42:16.320 let me just clarify this before I end. That phrase, 00:42:16.519 --> 00:42:19.059 peace and goodwill are given to everyone or to 00:42:19.059 --> 00:42:22.039 all mankind, is taken from the King James Version. 00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:26.619 And the word for goodwill is eudokia, which is 00:42:26.619 --> 00:42:29.980 in the nominative form. And throughout the years, 00:42:30.179 --> 00:42:34.260 when the King James was produced, this was what 00:42:34.260 --> 00:42:37.230 has been transmitted to us by tradition. The 00:42:37.230 --> 00:42:40.210 problem with this translation is that the manuscripts 00:42:40.210 --> 00:42:42.250 that the King James Version used or available 00:42:42.250 --> 00:42:46.170 at that time were much later manuscripts, meaning 00:42:46.170 --> 00:42:50.269 weaker manuscripts. When the NIV was produced 00:42:50.269 --> 00:42:53.070 and the other modern versions, there were more 00:42:53.070 --> 00:42:56.369 reliable manuscripts which were discovered. And 00:42:56.369 --> 00:42:59.429 they found out that in the Gospel of Luke, it's 00:42:59.429 --> 00:43:03.010 not eudokia, not the nominative form, but rather 00:43:03.010 --> 00:43:06.929 the genitive form, eudokias. if you're going 00:43:06.929 --> 00:43:10.030 to translate it, it's in the genitive form, peace 00:43:10.030 --> 00:43:13.309 to those whom God favors or peace among those 00:43:13.309 --> 00:43:16.789 with whom he is pleased. Now, why is this crucial? 00:43:16.989 --> 00:43:19.989 It is crucial because you will find that as much 00:43:19.989 --> 00:43:24.110 as God has given peace to peace on earth, it 00:43:24.110 --> 00:43:28.590 is not readily given to everyone. It is available 00:43:28.590 --> 00:43:33.690 for those in whom his favor rests. In other words, 00:43:34.159 --> 00:43:38.059 it demands a response from those who wants to 00:43:38.059 --> 00:43:42.000 receive God's favor. And you know what I'm talking 00:43:42.000 --> 00:43:45.719 about. If you want to have the peace of God, 00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:50.139 you need to respond to His gift. And how do we 00:43:50.139 --> 00:43:54.139 do that? Well, from the Gospel of Luke, we will 00:43:54.139 --> 00:43:57.219 find in the context of chapter 2, verses 1 to 00:43:57.219 --> 00:44:00.539 20, receive God's message. This is what the shepherds 00:44:00.539 --> 00:44:04.389 did. They received God's message. They sought 00:44:04.389 --> 00:44:07.190 and believed the Messiah when they found him 00:44:07.190 --> 00:44:10.769 on a manger. Praised, glorified, and declared 00:44:10.769 --> 00:44:16.150 who he is in our hearts and lives. And then, 00:44:16.170 --> 00:44:18.650 of course, you spread the message, which the 00:44:18.650 --> 00:44:25.489 shepherds did. Merry Christmas. Bow your heads 00:44:25.489 --> 00:44:29.510 with me, please. Lord Jesus, thank you for the 00:44:29.510 --> 00:44:31.969 ultimate sacrifice, your ultimate sacrifice on 00:44:31.969 --> 00:44:35.550 the cross. This Christmas is not simply about 00:44:35.550 --> 00:44:40.130 gift giving or a time for reunion. But the fact 00:44:40.130 --> 00:44:44.610 that peace is among us. The peace of God is with 00:44:44.610 --> 00:44:49.230 us. We want, Lord God, to receive your peace. 00:44:49.630 --> 00:44:52.610 And we will declare your goodness and your greatness. 00:44:53.030 --> 00:44:58.530 May your name, Lord God, be glorified in our 00:44:58.530 --> 00:45:03.250 lives. We pray, Lord Jesus. that when that time 00:45:03.250 --> 00:45:07.250 comes that we will be with you. We have done 00:45:07.250 --> 00:45:10.190 our part. We spread the good news that Jesus 00:45:10.190 --> 00:45:14.030 is Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord God, for 00:45:14.030 --> 00:45:19.090 intervening and giving us this peace. In Jesus' 00:45:19.210 --> 00:45:28.570 name we pray. Amen. Thank you for tuning in to 00:45:28.570 --> 00:45:32.489 the ECB Sermon Podcast. Whether near or far, 00:45:32.730 --> 00:45:35.949 if you are looking for community or are in need 00:45:35.949 --> 00:45:39.309 of prayer, we welcome you to engage by sending 00:45:39.309 --> 00:45:44.909 us an email to office at ecb .asia. If God is 00:45:44.909 --> 00:45:47.530 calling you to support our ministries, you will 00:45:47.530 --> 00:45:51.289 find giving options on our website. And remember 00:45:51.289 --> 00:45:54.090 to join us next week. God bless you.